Curried Chicken Salad with Asparagus and Peanuts

posted by Kalyn Denny on May 24, 2011

I loved this Curried Chicken Salad with Asparagus and Peanuts.

When I spotted a recipe for Curried Chicken Salad with Peanuts in The South Beach Diet Taste of Summer Cookbook, there were two things that intrigued me about the recipe. The first was the technique of adding a generous tablespoon of lemon juice to the pan when you browned the chicken breasts; something I’d never done before. I’m a lemon fan, so I loved the way this added just a bit more lemon flavor. The second thing that drew me to the recipe was the dressing made with mostly fat-free Greek yogurt, with just a touch of mayo. I love mayo-based chicken salads but in this recipe I really enjoyed the tang of the yogurt.

The original recipe called for snow peas trimmed into small pieces and blanched, but I had leftover Asparagus with Lemon-Mustard Vinaigrette in the fridge, and it made a great addition to the salad. I also chose not to chop the peanuts so they’d show up a bit more.

Saute the chicken breasts in olive oil and a generous tablespoon of fresh lemon juice.

You’ll need thinly sliced celery and green onion.

I used about 12 ounces of cooked asparagus, cut into pieces about 1 inch long. I like to cut them on the diagonal for looks. If you don’t have leftover asparagus, I’d cut the asparagus, blanch about 2-3 minutes in boiling salted water, and drain well. (You could also use blanched snow peas, broccoli, or green beans in this salad.)

Let the chicken cool a few minutes, then cut into 1/2 inch pieces.

Toss together the diced chicken, cut asparagus, celery and green onions and toss with enough dressing so all the salad is moistened. Season with salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste, and garnish with a sprinkling of peanuts on top of each serving.

Zest the lemon and then squeeze the lemon juice. (You need 2 tablespoons of juice, one for the dressing and one for cooking the chicken.) Whisk together dressing ingredients and let the dressing stand while you prepare other ingredients.

While chicken cooks, cut asparagus into pieces about 1 inch long and blanch for 2-3 minutes in boiling water, then drain well. I like to cut the asparagus on a diagonal for looks. (You can also use leftover cooked asparagus. Other leftover cooked veggies like broccoli, snow peas, or green beans would also work.) Slice celery and green onions.

In a large bowl gently combine the diced chicken, cut asparagus, sliced celery, and sliced green onion. Add dressing and stir until all salad ingredients are coated with dressing. Season to taste with salt and fresh-ground black pepper.

Divide the salad among four serving plates and sprinkle a few peanuts over each serving.

I found that this did not keep in the fridge as well as chicken salad with all-mayo dressing. (It seemed that the yogurt dressing kind of soaked into the chicken) If you don’t want four servings, I would only put dressing on the amount you’re going to eat, save the rest of the salad ingredients and dressing separately, and add dressing right before you eat it.

South Beach Suggestions:
This salad is full of low-glycemic ingredients and would be approved for any phase of the South Beach Diet. Even if you use full fat mayo, the 1 tablespoon of mayo per servings still fits within South Beach guidelines.

This recipe will be perfect for a leftover chicken from my house. I, too, could definitely try doing the lemon juice while sauteing the meat, and the salad will be packed for lunch or after a few routines at the gym. Thanks for sharing.

I ate it room temperature (the chicken had cooled down and the other ingredients were all cold.) I think you could refrigerate it for a few hours, but when I refrigerated it overnight I thought a lot of the dressing was absorbed into the chicken.

Great recipe! I switched out the chicken for grilled tofu (gf is vegi) and the mayo for veganise (just don't like mayo much), and added in cashews and dried cranberries. It was awesome! Looking forward to more of your dishes.

This is crazy tasty. I was a lemon short but I "made up for it" with some extra curry . . because how could that be a bad idea. Hah! It was a little hot so I used the whole six oz container of yogurt. Yum!